Local Restaurant Businesses fuel Small Plot Organic Farming

[S.Annadana]

Sun, 04/27/2008 - 5:39pm — Mike Schneider
The expression "selling the farm" should be regarded a little more closely when we reminisce about local large scale farming of yesteryear. Local Dairy , beet or potato farming that USED to take place locally is no longer given any guarantee of success now. Who would pay to buy this land to grow and produce this type of product now?

Certainly an agricultural component can exist on the Southlands but it does not make sense to suggest it should be of a type that existed a few decades ago or that all of the land could be farmed. The math does not work for the owner of the land and it would certainly be a challenge for any investor to produce a financial model that made sense to farm all of the land now.

Hence the compromise that will be discussed at the table in the coming weeks. The challenge is to recognize innovation and dive in to opportunity.

Some farmers and restauranteurs are doing this now and this type of relationship is what will drive the future of the Southlands. Small plot Urban agriculture is a very real and profitable business for new thinking farmers who are creative enough to recognize dollar signs when they see them.

There is a very interesting story in the April 26 Vancouver Sun that shows how a relationship can develop between small scale producers and local customers. This has Southlands written all over it.

Tsawwassen has a very real opportunity to excel here. Let's be open minded enough to explore the possibilities.